Instrument cluster

bighead · Post by **bighead** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:12 am

Is this instrument board accurate for type M38?
I don't think Ammeter and Oil pressure gage match.
Are they probably from Ford Mutt?
And the speedometer also doesn't have as many dashes as it should.

Post by **Ryan_Miller** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:51 pm

That does not look correct for M38, maybe late M38A1 but I would say later style jeep.

someone here with more knowledge on later military vehicles will chime in I am sure.

RonD2 · Post by **RonD2** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:45 pm

Hi Václav,
Here's one photo from Wes' photo album. You can look at his extensive album collection anytime you want.
And it seems to me if you also were to compare the part numbers on the face of your gauges with your copy of the ORD9 manual, you could have a pretty good idea of what's correct or not.
I believe there were more than a few substitutions enacted by the Army supply system over the service life of the M38, which can make for some confusion.

Good luck!

crazyguyla · Post by **crazyguyla** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:27 pm

It could also be the early cluster for a M44/M45 2.5ton gasser. The voltmeter replaced the ammeter in later vehicles. It's the correct voltmeter for pre-1970's application IIRC.

OKCM38CDN · Post by **OKCM38CDN** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:18 pm

It is the proper cluster for an M-38. The ammeter has been changed to a voltmeter which needs to happen if running a solid state regulator and the oil pressure gauge has been changed to a 60 PSI unit to probably match the sender. This is what I run in my M-38CDN.

Post by **wesk** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:52 pm

Hello Bighead,
As mentioned above the panel is a correct M38 panel that has switched to a volt meter when the voltage regulator was updated to the newer transistorized type, the Speedo is later than M38 production but not an uncommon occurrence since the ORD # represented several different brands and face styles, and finally it was a common practice to upgrade from the 0-120 PSI oil pressure indicator and sender to the much easier to read 0-60 PSI set and often the Army supply system would abandon stocking of early parts in favor of later parts when they were closely related or interchangeable.

Also as mentioned above you can correlate the make/model and ORD part numbers on your gauge faces and compare them with your M38 parts manual ORD 9 SNL G-740.

bighead · Post by **bighead** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:39 am

Thank you for your advice!
This panel is not in my Jeep, but I have the option to buy it, for about $ 267.
In my Jeep there is a 12V installation, an ammeter, an oil pressure gauge and a thermometer are different, I will send a photo, maybe someone will know what it is from, it is a US production, probably not military.

Post by **wesk** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:39 pm

Bighead said:

In my Jeep there is a 12V installation, an ammeter, an oil pressure gauge and a thermometer are different, I will send a photo, maybe someone will know what it is from, it is a US production, probably not military.

Your instrument cluster is clearly the early M38 MILITARY cluster but you have indicated it has three civilian 12V gauges.

If you wish your M38 to look like it came from the factory then at least purchasing the correct military gauges and their correctly matched senders is the way to go.

If you desire to have a very useful 24V restoration that you can comfortably drive daily then I would stick with good quality, modern direct reading gauges and just paint their bezels OD. The only tough choice here is to either modify you 12V fuel quantity gauge system by adding a resistor to reduce input voltage from 24 to 12 and paint the gauge bezel OD or purchase a new 24V gauge and sender.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:07 pm

His panel is missing the circuit breaker mounting screws and wiring clip screws.

Post by **wesk** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:25 pm

Brian, His panel on his jeep has the edge showing in my last post photo. It does have the CB & Connector screws. The Panel he posted in his opening post is of one he is interested in buying.

bighead · Post by **bighead** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:27 pm

I'm adding photos of the devices from the panel, maybe someone will know what vehicle they are from.
Another problem is that the transfer to the thermometer and pressure gauge is not electric, but capillary ...

bighead · Post by **bighead** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:30 pm

Post by **wesk** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:58 pm

I had hoped you would have explained which restoration route you are taking. #1 or #2. Please answer which of these are your goal.

#1 - If you wish your M38 to look like it came from the factory then at least purchasing the correct military gauges and their correctly matched senders is the way to go.

#2 - If you desire to have a very useful 24V restoration that you can comfortably drive daily then I would stick with good quality, modern direct reading gauges and just paint their bezels OD. The only tough choice here is to either modify you 12V fuel quantity gauge system by adding a resistor to reduce input voltage from 24 to 12 and paint the gauge bezel OD or purchase a new 24V gauge and sender.

Post by **wesk** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:55 pm

My current assessment of your instrument cluster is a highly modified M38 early cluster. If it had come off some other Military truck it would have been from the same time period and most of those used a 6 gauge cluster to accommodate the air brake pressure gauge. The only real close one is the Dodge M37 but that is the later M38 type.

Here's an example of heavy truck clusters from the same early 50's.

This is my assessment of your currently installed panel. It would be nice if you can post a photo of the back side of the cluster.

bighead · Post by **bighead** » Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:26 am

Thank you all.
I'm just considering the renewal journey, it's not easy, our parts are only on Mutty, almost none on the M38, there is expensive mail from the USA.
Maybe tomorrow I will send a photo of the back of the cluster, I was vaccinated yesterday and today I am just lying.